Old Friends
by xbaconstripes
Summary: After their partnership ended abruptly, Austin and Ally both went their separate ways. Years later, Ally is studying at college, and Austin is the biggest pop star in the business. They have nothing common and haven't spoken since Austin left on tour, but who said that love was easy or predictable?
1. New Song

A soft hissing sound snapped Ally Dawson out of a trance. Lifting her chin from the palm of her hand, she slowly climbed out of her chair and walked towards the kitchen counter. "Check to see if it is hot to the touch", her mother's voice echoed in her mind, as she tapped her fingers on the side of the tea kettle quickly. Ally didn't know why some things stayed permanently embedded in her brain, but there were many things in her life that set off memories – and tea reminded her of her mother. It was peppermint – Ally's favorite – and as she poured the steaming liquid into her dark blue mug, she made a mental note to phone her mother soon. She stirred honey into her tea with a spoon before padding down the small hallway to her even smaller dorm room.

She'd been quiet so that she wouldn't wake Pete, but when her head peeked in the door, she found him propped up on a few of her pillows.

"Hey," he said groggily, giving her a sleepy smile.

She grinned. "Hey."

He patted the spot on the bed next to him, and she quickly skipped over to it, setting her cup down on the bedside table before scooting in beside him. He wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head, and she sighed contently.

Ally couldn't have asked for a more perfect boyfriend. As everyone who knew her was aware, she was a very firm believer in love. She'd read college-themed romance novels countless times, and had always wanted the ideal guy from the books – the one who showed up to dates on time and wasn't afraid to snuggle. Pete knew everything about her – from her favorite scenes in _Pretty in Pink _right down to where she was ticklish – and she felt very safe and secure when she was with him, like she was wearing a raincoat under an umbrella in a thunderstorm.

She'd met him on her first day at Berkley, near the big window in the huge campus library – one of the reasons why she'd chosen the University of California – and that was it. After talking for a few hours, and realizing that they shared a love for the song "Gone Away" by SafetySuit, and Scott Westerfeld novels, she'd fallen head over heels.

She lifted her head to look up at him. "Don't you have class tomorrow?"

"You mean today?" he asked, motioning towards the clock above her dresser.

Ally didn't even have to look – she knew that it was past midnight already. "You know what I mean."

"Nope, I'm a free man. We can spend the entire day together if you want."

"You mean like how we spent this afternoon together?" They had made plans to go out to dinner that night, but they'd ended up falling asleep while watching a rerun of The Dick Van Dyke Show instead.

"Oh, come on. You fell asleep too, Ally. Besides, we have the right – school is exhausting." He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear as he said this, and she smiled, giving in.

"Okay, fine. But I _did_ really want to go out for dinner. Maybe tomorrow?"

"You mean tonight?"

She threw a pillow at him.

"Alright," he said, his muffled voice coming from underneath her pillow. "We'll go out – for sure this time."

"Good," she said, satisfied with herself.

His head popped up suddenly, and he gave her a quick kiss. "We'll go somewhere nice. I know a really fancy place off of campus."

"Okay." She didn't know if she owned anything that was even remotely fancy, but it'd be nice to get off campus. Ally had splurged for a single room by herself, but she regretted not saving up for a food plan, and she was sick of ramen noodles. At times it was nice not having a roommate – she had a big bed all to herself except for when Pete slept over – but she couldn't help but feel that she'd missed out on making friends.

"Great. I'll pick you up at six then." He got out of bed and pulled his hoodie on.

Ally frowned. "Won't you stay?"

"Don't pout, Ally." Pete leaned down to give her another soft kiss. "I think that it would be nice to do this right for once. You can spend seven or eight hours getting ready – "

"Hey!"

" – and I'll come and pick you up like a proper date."

She folded her arms across her chest. "I don't take that long to get ready."

He smiled down at her. "Goodnight, Ally."

She got up to walk him to the door, and he pulled her into a quick hug before leaving.

Pete turned to call over his shoulder. "Remember – six o'clock!"

"I know." She watched him until he turned a corner, disappearing from sight.

...

A familiar voice woke her at 6 am the next morning. Music blared from the radio on her bedside table, and she mentally scolded herself for forgetting to turn off her "wake-up" alarm. She'd set it for the days when she had early classes, but now Austin Moon's voice was booming from the radio for no other reason but to annoy her.

Ally's hand was inches away from the OFF button when she realized that she'd never heard the song before. She turned the volume down – so that it wasn't loud enough to earn a knock on her wall from Patricia next door – and settled back down into her bed.

The song definitely wasn't like most of Austin's modern pop stuff, and Ally briefly wondered if he had hired a new songwriter as she got lost in the lyrics.

_So nice to see your face again_

_Tell me how long has it been_

_Since you've been here_

_You look so different than before_

_But still the person I adore_

_Frozen with fear_

_I'm out of love but I'll take it from the past_

_I'll let out words 'cause I'm sure It'll never last_

_And I've been saving_

_These last words for one last miracle_

_But now I'm not sure_

_I can't save you if_

_You don't let me_

_You just get me like I never_

_Been gotten before_

Ally found herself smiling while listening to the song – something that happened rarely when she heard Austin's music.

When it was over, the radio announcer started to speak. "That was Austin Moon's new single, 'Gotten'! It seems like we've been listening to that song all night. Oh wait – we have!"

Sometimes radio stations played a new song for eight hours straight overnight to promote it the day of its release. Ally knew about the promotion because some very good songs had been ruined for her because of this. But as the radio announcer declared that there was still another hour left of airtime for the new song, Ally snuggled further into her bed and realized that she didn't mind at all.


	2. New Surprise

She'd gone to one of his concerts last year. No backstage pass – no VIP treatment (not to mention the fact that she'd actually had to pay for her ticket), but she'd gone.

He still sang "Double-Take" at every event, as it was his first breakout song and the fans demanded it, but his old devotion and enthusiasm towards it just wasn't there anymore. Ally had watched enough of his live concerts online to know exactly when he would introduce the song, and she held her breath when he finished performing the seventh track on his new album.

"I'm sure you guys know this one," he'd called out to the crowd, slinging his guitar out from behind his back. "Here's 'Double-Take'."

She remembered feeling a little disappointed. Sure, that was how he usually introduced the song at his concerts – she'd sold all of the rights to every song she'd ever written for him a few months after he left home, so he didn't even have to mention her – but she couldn't shake the feeling that he knew she was there. Not because he could see her, but because he knew where she lived and that is was very possible that she'd be at the concert that night. Dez still kept in contact with Austin (mostly by telephone), and she knew for a fact that her name had come up more than once.

The crowd went wild as Austin positioned his fingers on the guitar strings, but before he started the song, he glanced back up at the audience. He seemed to be searching for something in particular as his gaze swept over the stadium, made even more noticeable by the fact that his face was put up on the overhead screen in an extreme close-up.

Ally had locked eyes with those on the monitor and her breath caught. She felt an ache in her heart that hadn't been there in a while – she almost felt as if they were in high school again, writing songs in her practice room at Sonic Boom.

But then he'd looked away, and she was back to being the Ally Dawson that hadn't talked to Austin Moon in over three years.

She'd seriously considered leaving after Austin performed her song, but she couldn't move until after he'd sung three encores (all of them very cliché and mainstream) and taken his bow. Ally's feet stayed firmly planted on the floor until Austin had disappeared backstage, and girls had begun to shove her from behind as they tried to exit the stadium.

...

"Shit!"

Ally wasn't one to swear, but sometimes...well sometimes it was necessary.

She'd slept in – something that rarely happened – and now she only had two hours to get ready for her date with Pete.

Despite being a tad offended by his teasing, it was true that girls spent a lot of time preparing to go out. She had to take a shower, find something appropriate to wear, and do both her hair and makeup. In two hours? Definitely not.

"How on earth did I sleep in until four o'clock?" She muttered to herself as she dragged herself out of bed before pulling open the curtains.

Light streamed into the room, and Ally was glad that it wasn't the in-your-face morning light that would have blinded her had it been anywhere between seven and eight in the morning.

Although she was in a rush, she gave herself a moment to appreciate the beautiful view that her room had of the college campus.

Ally sighed and looked longingly over at her dresser. Five drawers down, underneath a box of old photographs – and wrapped in a pillowcase – was her book. Yeah, as in, "Don't touch my book!". Now _she_ was the one who didn't touch it. She hadn't written a song (or a lyric, for that matter) in years. Not only had she lost her inspiration, but she'd actually developed a fear of writing any form of music. If she couldn't even express herself through what she loved anymore, what was the point?

It was moments like this – looking out at a beautiful view, or waking up feeling rested and energetic – when this loss was very hard to ignore. The old Ally would have drawn inspiration from such moments whereas the new one was...numb and empty.

Listening to music was a bigger part of her life now, and she'd recently started a very large CD collection. Her knowledge of music had expanded so much in the past few years that she felt that if she _were_ still writing music; its style would be completely different from before.

She missed it though. A lot.

A knock on Ally's door made her jump.

Her first thought was that it was Pete, and that he was early, but she quickly pushed that thought aside. Sure, he wasn't one to be late for anything, but he definitely wasn't the type of person to be two hours early either.

Ally felt a twinge of sadness when she realized that she couldn't think of anyone else who could be at her door. She hadn't exactly done a good job at making friends – and she never got any visitors.

As she walked towards the door, she came to the conclusion that it must be her neighbor Patricia, asking to borrow her tea kettle again.

Ally was so sure of this that when she swung open her door to reveal the person on the other side, she actually yelped in surprise.


	3. New Guest

It wasn't Patricia – that was the first thing she noticed.

The _second_ thing that she noticed was the big duffle bag at her visitor's feet. It was packed to the extreme – there were literally things hanging from where the zipper should have been closed – and it seemed to be filled with enough clothes to last a few days, if not weeks.

She looked up at her friend's familiar face and blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "You can't sleep here, you know – I've only got one bed. How many times are we going to go over this?"

Dez's face fell. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought that this was my best friend's dorm room. Her name's Ally Dawson – do you know her? She'll be real happy to see me."

The shock of his random arrival slowly faded, and the happiness of seeing him for the first time in months crept in. A huge grin spread across her face as she looked him over, quickly taking note of the numerous changes in his appearance.

The last time he'd come to see her, his long hair had been hanging down over his eyes, but now it was cut into a (surprisingly) decent "fohawk". Because his hair was short, she caught a glimpse of his new tattoo – some Asian symbol – that was poking out from the side of his Relient K t-shirt on the left side of his neck.

He'd completely changed his look after developing a huge obsession with punk rock "grunge" towards the end of high school. It totally suited him for some reason, and Ally was glad that he'd finally found a genre of music that he was comfortable with and passionate about.

Dez cleared his throat and gave her a look. "Is that it then, beautiful? No hug?"

This snapped Ally out of her thoughts and she leapt into his arms without hesitation.

He'd been holding another bag, but he quickly dropped it to wrap his arms around her. For some reason this caused her eyes to sting and fill with tears. His presence was making nostalgia hit her like a wave – a _huge_ one. She clung to him and swallowed hard; trying to push back sobs.

"You smell nice," she commented when she felt like her voice wouldn't quiver. She sniffed his shirt. "Is that...?"

"The cologne you got me in the tenth grade? Of course – it's my signature scent."

She let out a shaky laugh and finally released him. He patted her head affectionately.

"Dez, would you like to come in?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

...

"Don't look."

"I'm offended."

"Well...are your eyes closed?"

"And if they weren't?"

"Dez!"

"Alright, alright! Have it your way. I've got my hands over my eyes, see?"

"I can't see you – I'm still in the bathroom!"

"That was a test to make sure you trusted me."

"How?"

"I don't know. Just come out. I promise that it's safe."

Ally poked her head out of the bathroom door and looked around her room. Dez was lying on her bed – his dirty converse shoes lazily thrown into the corner by her guitar case – with his hands covering his eyes.

"Can't you go into the kitchen while I change?"

He sighed. "Ally, your entire dorm-apartment thing is literally the size of the public bathroom at McDonalds. I'd still have quite the view from there."

She huffed, pretending to be offended. "How about I just throw you out on your ass then?"

He chuckled. "Wow, Ally. Way to be a potty-mouth."

"I'm not –"

"Anyways, I've got friends everywhere – you should be honoured that I chose to come see you."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm so flattered. Now put that pillow over your head."

"Oh my God." But he did as he was told.

She pulled her towel tighter around her body and called out to Dez. "I'm coming out now."

"Great."

Her feet made little footprints on the hardwood floor as she skipped over to her dresser and pulled open the first drawer. She grabbed the first thing that she found and quickly put it on while glancing at Dez every few seconds to make sure that he kept his word.

"Alright." She sat on the bed next to her best friend and gave him a gentle nudge. "You can look now."

He didn't move the pillow from his face. "For someone who is supposedly very smart, it was kind of stupid not to think to bring clothes in there before you got in the shower."

She lifted the pillow and smacked him with it. "You were downstairs getting a coffee, and I don't usually have to worry about wearing clothes straight after I get out of the shower.

"Even when the boyfriend is over?" Dez wiggled his eyebrows, and Ally hit him with the pillow again before standing up and pulling her closet door open.

"Speaking of "the boyfriend" – he's going to be here in less than an hour, and I'm nowhere close to being ready to go out."

"You always look beautiful," Dez said casually, grabbing her laptop from the bedside table.

Despite herself, Ally flushed at Dez's words. He one of the most completely honest people that she'd ever met, and he constantly spoke his mind even if it caught her off guard or got them kicked out of restaurants.

That was one of the things that had stayed the same after Austin left. Dez had changed his style, traded in his random bursts of comedy for dry sarcasm, and even started doing better in school, but his innocence and bleak honesty had stayed intact.

He was somewhat of a sarcastic punk genius, if you had to give it a label. All he needed now was work ethic and a filter.

"Thanks, but Pete says that this place is fancy."

"Hmm." He was typing something. "So where are we going?"

"_Pete and I_ are going to a restaurant off campus. You're staying here."

He looked up from the computer screen. "What? But I just got here! Aren't we going to have a reunion bffs' night, or something?"

Ally smirked, pulling a dress off the rack. "Ha. If only you'd called ahead of time." She placed the outfit in front of her. "How's this?"

"We both know that I don't have to call before I stop by." He considered. "Too short."

Ally sighed and put the dress back. "You do if you want to be included in tonight's activities; I can't just bring you along – it's a date."

He didn't say anything and she heard his fingers racing across the keyboard.

"And _I_ thought that the dress was just fine."

Silence.

"Dez!"

"What?"

She gave him a look and motioned to the dress.

"You said you were going somewhere fancy, we can't have you looking cheap, can we?"

She rolled her eyes. "It goes all the way past my knees! What are you doing on my laptop anyway?"

"Nothing." He snapped it shut. "Don't you have anything longer?"

She gave him a suspicious look. "Just the dress that I wore to the album launch party a few years ago, but I hardly want to –"

"Ally, that's perfect! Go put it on."

"But I –"

"Don't argue. The boyfriend is going to be here soon."

"Dez, I swear if he hears you call him that –"

"Where is it?" He asked, dragging her towards the closet.

She pulled the dress off its hanger and held it up.

"The clock is ticking!"

And then Dez shoved her into the bathroom.


	4. New Secrets

There was a very awkward moment around 6:03pm when Dez opened the door and was presented with a bouquet of flowers from Pete. Ally's "hilarious" friend had made a show of pretending to be flattered, but then told her boyfriend that he wasn't interested.

She'd finally managed to get out of her dorm, receiving only a non-committal wave from Dez before she left. He'd been typing away on her laptop again and still refused to tell her what he was up to. Ally wasn't too worried because she knew that Dez knew his way around a computer, but she'd have to get him to fess up after her date.

Speaking of, Pete still seemed to be getting over his first encounter with Dez. Her friend hadn't exactly been on his best behaviour, and after they had exchanged their hellos, he'd mumbled a single "Don't do anything I wouldn't do" before retreating to Ally's bedroom.

She didn't take too much offence considering Dez had never really approved of _any_ guy who'd ever taken an interest in her. Ally had always considered it to be an "over-protective best guy-friend" thing, but she was worried that Pete would see it differently.

She was actually a little shocked that they'd never crossed paths before. The few times that Dez had come up to see her, Pete had either been away visiting his family, busy with studies, or working. Then again, her friend had never stayed for more than a few days, but this time his suitcase said otherwise.

Pete's blue BMW was near the back entrance of Ally's dorm, and he held the door open for her as she slid inside. She fastened her seatbelt as he walked around the vehicle and hopped into his own seat. When he started the ignition, he leaned over her to give her a soft kiss. Ally melted a little into the kiss, and began to reach out to him, but he gently guided her shoulder away.

This was the routine with them.

Yes, Pete was charming, a gentleman, and the perfect boyfriend – but he tended to take those to extremes. He never let any of their...moments get too heated because he was a firm believer in purity and...well – to be frank – abstinence. And although Ally respected those beliefs she sometimes felt like crying out in frustration. She was his girlfriend and sometimes girlfriends needed a little love. His quick and soft kisses were very sweet, but there were times when Ally would have liked to have been swept off of her feet, held tight, and kissed with passion.

She wasn't one to voice her opinions or argue though, so she just pushed ahead and reminded herself that Pete really was perfect for her. She'd always wanted to be with someone like him, and she knew that once their relationship moved forward, everything would be exactly what she's ever wished for.

Apart from the radio, the car was filled with a comfortable silence between them, and Ally sighed contently, enjoying the feel of Pete's hand in hers.

Only a few minutes had passed before the now familiar notes of Austin's new song began to play. Ally slipped her hand out of Pete's grip and reached to turn up the volume.

He glanced sideways at her. "I like this one."

"Me too."

"_But tell me will this ever end _

_Don't disappear"_


	5. Old Doubts

"They want you to write more."

Austin Moon glanced up at his manager, Robert Blitz, and sighed.

Everyone had been going crazy about his new song. His teeny-bopper fans appreciated anything that he recorded, but 'Gotten' had pulled in way more buzz than he was used to. An older age demographic had apparently taken a liking to it, and it was played on more than just the Top 40s radio stations. What _really_ had people excited though, was that _he_ had been the one to write it. The first song that he ever writes himself goes to number one quicker than any of his other hit singles? All of a sudden he was bigger than ever, and that was saying a lot.

"I can't."

Robert – or 'Bert', as Austin had secretly nicknamed him – placed a meaty hand on the popstar's shoulder and squeezed in what was supposed to be a reassuring way. It caused Austin discomfort if anything and he resisted the urge to shake it off.

"Look, kid. It doesn't have to be great. It doesn't even have to be good. It just has to rhyme – we'll figure out the rest."

Austin hated being called 'kid'. He'd mentioned this to Bert numerous times, but his manager either always forgot or didn't care. Maybe he'd start calling him Bert to his face so that he knew how it felt.

He also hated knowing that his career was nothing but a financial advantage to most of the people he was involved with.

"If I write another song, it's going to be good."

Bert removed his hand and began pacing the hotel room. His leather shoes made annoying noises with ever step, and he thoughtfully stroked his mustache. "Well then make it good."

"I already told you –"

"Listen, kid. I hate to be the one to tell you this, but things aren't looking so great for you."

Austin frowned and instantly grabbed the acoustic guitar that had been leaning against his bed. He hugged it to his chest as if to protect himself from what was coming. "I don't understand."

Bert laughed, but it wasn't a happy sound. "You're not The Beatles. You're not going to be a hit forever, and your fanbase is growing up." He began rubbing the back of his neck. "To be honest I...I'm surprised that you lasted this long."

Each word was a blow to Austin's ego. No one – certainly not Bert – had ever been this blunt with him before. The stadiums at his concerts could be empty and he'd still think that he was Austin Moon – biggest popstar in the biz. He didn't usually get involved in any of the background stuff because, well, because he had a manager for that. He trusted Bert to handle all the boring things while he lived it up and did whatever he wanted. That's why he had been quite surprised when Bert had asked to speak with him personally and privately.

Bert mistook his shocked silence for confusion. "What I'm trying to say is that things were going downhill before you wrote 'Gotten'. Now...well – now they want more. An album would be best. You need to move on from this stage in your career if you want to stay on top. Your fans are growing up – _you_ are growing up – and that needs to be represented in your music. The fans and the press seem to think that writing your own music is the way to do that."

Austin considered this and quickly became consumed with self-doubt. "But...but I can't. I can't do it. I can't write any more songs."

His manager seemed to be losing his cool, and the vein in his forehead began to throb. "Yes. You. Can. _Something_ must have inspired you to write 'Gotten'! I don't care what you have to do, I don't care where you have to go, and I don't care how long it takes – you _will_ find that inspiration again, and you _will_ write more songs. Otherwise – mark my words – it'll be then end for both of us."


End file.
